Please note, as much as we keep improving the servers - the amount of people who hit the site during these major events is an astonishing peak. We are - by far - the most used forum for multiple space flight subjects, including SpaceX, so it is understandable that during major events for these subject areas, we can be overloaded.

RTF is going to be absolutely crazy demand.

As such, during these major events, we may suffer from occasional "bad gateway"/sluggish issue which occur when there's a bottleneck of thousands of people hitting the site at the same second.

However, to help mitigate this, we can make this forum member only (removing guest access) if we become sluggish, which is a good way to prioritize smooth access to the site to those who need it the most.

“As we prepare for return to flight, SpaceX together with its customers SES and Orbcomm have evaluated opportunities to optimize the readiness of the upcoming Falcon 9 return-to-flight mission. All parties have mutually agreed that SpaceX will now fly the Orbcomm-2 mission on the return-to-flight Falcon 9 vehicle.

“The Orbcomm-2 mission does not require a relight of the second stage engine following orbital insertion. Flying the Orbcomm-2 mission first will therefore allow SpaceX to conduct an on-orbit test of the second stage relight system after the Orbcomm-2 satellites have been safely deployed. This on-orbit test, combined with the current qualification program to be completed prior to launch, will further validate the second stage relight system and allow for optimization of the upcoming SES-9 mission and following missions to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

“This change does not affect the timeline for SpaceX’s return-to-flight mission which is still targeted to take place in the next 6-8 weeks. The SES-9 launch is currently targeted for late December 2015.”

Rochelle Park, NJ, October 16, 2015 – ORBCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq: ORBC), a global provider of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, today announced that ORBCOMM and SpaceX plan to launch eleven OG2 satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on the next launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket targeted to take place in the next six to eight weeks.

Moog has shipped the Satellite Dispenser to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to support ORBCOMM Generation 2 satellites

26 October 2015

East Aurora, N.Y., 26 October 2015

Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B) Space and Defense Group has shipped the Satellite Dispenser to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) to support the launch of eleven ORBCOMM (Nasdaq: ORBC) Generation 2 (OG2) satellites. The launch will take place in the coming weeks from Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) atop a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9, completing ORBCOMM’s next generation satellite constellation. A Moog dispenser supported the previous successful launch of six ORBCOMM OG2 satellites on July 14, 2014.

Both launches rely on a modular Satellite Dispenser built on multiple Moog EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) rings. The Dispenser protects the entire payload “stack” from launch vehicle vibrations and shock using a Moog SoftRide vibration isolation system. In addition, Moog provided the Dispenser electrical harness and will be performing the integration of the Dispenser/spacecraft assembly at the SpaceX CCAFS facility.

The Moog ESPA, first launched in 2007, has established standards for secondary payloads, spawning the standard of “ESPA class” spacecraft. This versatile design can be used for Ride Share opportunities, multiple payload launches as with OG2, a modular spacecraft structural bus as with LCROSS, or the platform for a “free flyer” as for the Air Force EAGLE program. ESPA has enabled missions from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to the Moon.

The Moog SoftRide system has flown over 30 times since 1998 on ten different launch vehicles, isolating spacecraft and payloads from the rough launch vibration, shock, and structure-borne acoustic environment associated with the launch. The SoftRide system uses a series of isolators ‘tuned’ to the launch vehicle environment and properties of the payload, in this case three ESPAs and eleven OG2 spacecraft. The SoftRide system allows the spacecraft design to be focused on the mission and not the first several minutes of the launch.

Moog engineers and technicians will be performing launch site integration of the spacecraft to the ESPA/SoftRide Dispenser in the next few weeks. Moog engineers will perform the mechanical integration of the OG2 spacecraft to the ESPAs and electrical harnessing and checkouts for the dispensing system that deploys the spacecraft into the correct orbits.

Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moog’s high-performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery, wind energy, marine and medical equipment. Additional information about the company can be found at www.moog.com.